Kronborg Castle
In a land of kings and queens, castle is the most important after all. The majestic castle standing on its own for centuries, seeing hordes of people coming and going, is a serious attraction for me. Every wall seems to have its own stories to tell and every corner seems to keep a record of the events that have happened before in the place. Everything in the castle is seriously wonderful. The castle that I went to today is Kronborg, or what is also known as Elsinore Castle from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
We went for the guided tour for the casemates and the castle. The casemates lie underneath Kronborg Castle and are extremely dark and gloomy. The casemates are an underground network of corridors and rooms on several levels which served as soldier quarters during times of war. The rooms are extremely dark and damp but they are able to hold up to a thousand soldiers and provide enough provisions to withstand a six-week siege. During the war, the soldiers ate herrings for their meals. I really feel great sympathy for the soldiers after the horrible herring lunch that I had. I never realized that there exist a fish that I cannot stand to eat at all.
The castle tour was really grand and wonderful. We were shown the King’s room which was extremely big and also the queen’s room and gallery. We were also shown the king and queen’s chamber which was rather small in comparison with the rest of the castle. This was because the castle is very cold during the winter and keeping the room small and having a big fireplace in the small room would make it warm. The guide also mentioned that many parties are held in the queen’s room and a great amount of time is spent eating. The most interesting thing was that a lemon costs about 5000 kroner at that time and was considered a delicacy that only the rich could afford. This was because the lemon was from Asia and by the time the ships reach Denmark, most of these fruits would have been spoilt, hence the high prices on those that did not spoil. There are also many tapestries in the castle. All of them are really pretty and each tells a different story.
We also went to the chapel which was consecrated in 1582. That was the only part of the castle that was not damaged by the fire in 1629. There are many beautifully carved items in the chapel but it is a relatively small place compared to the rest of the castle. There was also a Danish maritime museum but I felt that there was nothing much there besides the numerous paintings and model of the ships.
The guide also commented that most of the kings and queens did not have very loving marriages. Well, I suppose that real life is not at all like fairy tales where every story has a happily ever after ending. Most of us wish to be kings or queens, but do we really know how much happiness they have?